First off while looking for more information about the concert, like who exactly the guests were, I found a great Japanese write up of the concert with not only the full set list but all the dialog for the MC parts included as well. So if you know Japanese I think it would be best to check it out.
The concert was much more like a normal rock concert than a Johnny's concert. I think the more elaborate sets and such for Tokio would have seemed out of place. Especially since they are a band so most of the time they are stuck behind their instruments. Though on that note each member was given at least one time during the concert to leave their instruments during a song, they had a support drummer that let Matsuoka Masahiro leave his set, and walk the full length of the stage which went from one side of the venue to the other and let the lucky fans sitting next to the flanks that went next to where they were sitting see the members up close.
Talking about the stage, they had a large version of the concert mascot on the stage between Mabo's drum set and the drum set of the support drummer. When it was used it would flap its wings and blow smoke out of its nose. Joshima Shigeru seemed rather attached to it as he was standing underneath for one part of a song and then later in the concert petting it. And like the usual rock concert there were streams of fire and at the end streamers came down in the arena area during different parts of the concert.
I consider myself more of a casual Tokio fan, though I do love Nagase Tomoya dearly, so there quite a few songs I didn't recognize. I found out after the concert when talking to a friend who went to the concert as well, but had seat in a different area, that there were quite a few album tracks played which explained that. So I need to pick up more of their albums as I only have a few. But even if I didn't know the song I still enjoyed them all as the whole group looked so happy to be up their on stage performing.
Also they played some of their newer songs like Amagasa (which thankfully had key changes to put in in more of Nagase's actual singing range though he was still shout-y in parts for it) and the A-sides off their latest single Taiyou to Sabaku no Bara and Subeki Koto. And of course there was Sorafune, which I think is a must now for any Tokio concert. The song that really made me happy to hear live was Hey! Mr. Sampling Man. It's one of my favorite Tokio songs so it was easily the highlight of the concert for me.
After this concert I have come to like the group more and will try to make more of an effort to learn more about them. Especially Kokubun Taichi, as he was just so lovable with how hyper he was on stage. He was jumping around at and away from his keyboards and was the lead person for getting the crowd going during songs. Then near the end of the concert rocked out in an afro wig. ♥
I was really amazed at Tokio's MC skills. I didn't understand much of it but the parts I did get were funny and entertaining (like Nagase and his 'over 30's chair' and all the poking fun of Joshima for being the 'old man' of the group) and from the crowd reactions to the things I didn't get it sounded like it was the same. Though they did have a few serious moments when they talked about their anniversary and how glad they were for their fans' support. But there were no moments of awkward silence or having to wait for someone to think of the next topic as they all just played off each other and just naturally kept the conversation going with their jokes. I guess that's one of the big differences between these older Johnny's groups compared to the younger ones, but I'm sure as the years pass and the younger groups begin to create closer bounds with each other they can eventually reach that level.
They only did one encore but it was a three song encore. Like for most of the songs of the concert they were upbeat songs and the guys looked like they were having a blast on stage. It's really hard to believe they're all over 30 as they just had so much energy. Especially Joshima as he probably moved around the stage the most and gave the fans the most love. Near the end he even ran up to the wall just below where the 1st floor seats were above so those fans could reach out and touch him.
At the end the whole group lined up, hand in hand, and Joshima was pulled into the middle of them all so he would be in the proper leader spot. Then Joshima without a mic yelled out loud and clear in English, 'We are TOKIO!'. And that ended the concert as they then left the stage.
I think the only downside to the concert was that I was sitting next to a fan that just was paying no attention to those around them. It was fine for everything before the long MC as I was standing in the aisle (I was the last row of the 1st floor so the seats were on raised ledges on the wall with the aisle to the exits/entrances directly in front of it.) and she was behind me standing on the ledge but after that MC she decided to stand in front of me and I tended to see more of her arm/hand than the stage during the songs. I tried to avoid it at first by standing on the ledge myself but because of my height it only left a couple of inches between my head and the ceiling which was rather uncomfortable for me, so I ended up just having to deal with the nuisance of somebody's arm/hand in my line of vision.
From the MC it looks like I was actually right about Masuda Takahisa being there after all. They actually introduced him by name (I can't believe I didn't catch it as they made a pun of his name right afterwards too.) as well and Yasuda Shota (who I'm not surprised that I didn't recognize as I had trouble recognizing him in the ROMES photos in the latest magazines). I am positive about Akun Igo still, even though he didn't get a mention but he stands out so much it really couldn't be anyone else. For the Hey! Say! JUMP boys none of them were introduced by name just by the group name even though there looked to be only three present. I'm now sure that Okamoto Keito was there, he's the only one with spiky hair after all, and one of them had longish light brown hair and I thought it was either Takaki Yuya or Yaotome Hikaru. Really did not get a good look at all at the third boy so I'm not even going to guess who it was other than he had black hair, which means it could be just about anyone else from the group that doesn't have their hair dyed.
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